Last-gasp Cheetahs try breaks Kings hearts

Cape Town - An injury time try by Luan de Bruin secured the Cheetahs a dramatic 24-17 victory in their PRO14 derby against the Southern Kings at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth on Friday evening, and back-to-back wins in the competition.

The visitors had to work hard for the victory as the Southern Kings delivered a spirited performance, which saw the sides tied at 17-17 with 10 minutes left of the clash.

The hosts delivered a vastly improved performance from two weeks ago when they went down 38-0 to Edinburgh, but the victory for the Cheetahs ensured that they extended their winning run against their Port Elizabeth counterparts to four in the competition, while it also marked back-to-back wins for the side after a 27-12 victory against Zebre in their last outing.

The only points scored in the first half was a converted try by Rabs Maxwane – the leading try scorer in the competition – which handed the Free Staters a 7-0 halftime lead.

Maxwane touched down in the eighth minute as the Cheetahs took advantage of an overlap out wide, and the successful conversion by Tian Schoeman pushed them 7-0 ahead.

The visitors were reduced to 14 men soon after as Tian Meyer received a yellow card, but despite this they managed to deny the hosts from reaching the tryline.

The Southern Kings started the second half with a bang as Ntabeni Dukisa scored two minutes after play resumed thanks to creative play in which they changed direction on attack, which created a hole in the defence. The successful conversion levelled the scores at 7-7.

The Cheetahs cancelled this out three minutes later as Junior Pokomela dived over the chalk following several phases on attack, and Schoeman added the two points to push them back into a seven point lead.

Southern Kings fullback Masixole Banda reduced the deficit to four points with a penalty goal, but the Cheetahs continued to apply pressure on attack and their efforts almost paid off as the ball was held up over the tryline. They got within metres of the tryline again minutes later, but the tenacious Southern Kings defence managed to shut them out.

The Bloemfontein outfit were finally rewarded for their determined efforts on attack as Benhard Janse van Rensburg kicked a penalty goal in the 64^th minute to push their lead to 17-10.

The home side responded well and managed to work their way within metres of the tryline with a little more than 10 minutes to play, but the Cheetahs stood their ground on defence and managed to win a penalty, which relieved the pressure.

The Southern Kings, however, showed their fighting spirit and earned a penalty try after a solid forward effort with eight minutes to play, which left the teams level at 17-17.

This had the home crowd on their feet, but it was not enough as De Bruin crossed the tryline for the visitors after immense pressure up front, which sealed the victory for the visitors.

Scorers

Southern Kings

Tries: Ntabeni Dukisa, Penalty Try

Conversions: Masixole Banda

Penalties: Masixole Banda

Cheetahs

Tries: Rabs Maxwane, Junior Pokomela,  Luan de Bruin

Conversions: Tian Schoeman (2), Barend Janse van Rensburg

Penalties: Barend Janse van Rensburg

Teams

Southern Kings

15 Masixole Banda, 14 Yaw Penxe, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Berton Klaasen, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Ntabeni Dukisa 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 7 Henry Brown, 6 Cyril-John Velleman, 5 John-Charles Astle (captain), 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Nicolaas Oosthuizen, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira

Substitutes: 16 Alandre van Rooyen, 17 Lumpumlo Mguca, 18 Rossouw de Klerk, 19 Andries van Schalkwyk, 20 Andisa Ntsila, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Martin du Toit, 23 Harlon Klaasen

Cheetahs

15 Malcolm Jaer, 14 William Small-Smith, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Rabs Maxwane, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Tian Meyer (captain), 8 Danie Maartens, 7 Junior Pokomela, 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 JP du Preez, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche

Substitutes: 16 Marnus van der Merwe/Reinach Venter, 17 Charles Marais, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Sintu Manjezi, 20 Walt Steenkamp, 21 Abongile Nonkontwana, 22 Shaun Venter, 23 Louis Fouche